On 13 October 2021, the Committee on European Affairs engaged with representatives of the European Movement-France and its member organisations in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The theme of this discussion was: “What European policies to meet young people’s expectations? “. Sabine Thillaye, Chair of the Committee recalls that the European Movement is an association created in 1950 after the war, whose mission was to bring about the public debate around Europe while advancing constructive proposals. The European Movement functions as a kind of network leader that brings together think tanks and youth organisations. The French Presidency of the European Union will focus on youth, particularly in times of recasting of the European project. It is essential to take into account the views of young people and to reflect on their expectations for the future Europe. This is necessary in order to strengthen young people’s sense of belonging to Europe, because it is only when one feels that one is part of a group that one is able to carry priorities together. One of the proposals discussed during the European Youth Event is multilingualism. It is a wealth for Europe and should be preserved: it is not necessary to sum up everything in English. It is also important to stress the importance of the European Affairs Committees of the national parliaments which link between the European, national and local levels. Antoine Chabal, president of the association Les Jeunes européenne-France, recalls the themes of interest to young people: environment, climate change, education, mobility, democracy, European values and the rule of law. Young people have a lot of expectations on these issues, they should not be disappointed because the challenge is to create a true European conscience and a European public space to respond to the challenges present and those to come. Thus, Europe’s place in education and mobility in school and university curricula should be strengthened. The training of trainers should also be strengthened, teachers must be made aware of European issues in order to raise awareness among the young people they accompany. Finally, strengthening Europe’s place in the media is a real issue of information and understanding for all European citizens. We should be more informed about the institutional challenges and news of all our European neighbours. Romane Esmingeaud, young ambassador of the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ) notes the lack of information about the European Union which is the cause of a lack of support for the European project by young people. Better information would be needed on the European institutions, their functioning and the competences of the Union through a systematic organisation of simulation of European legislative processes in schools. The implementation of this project would require an increase in resources for the Europe Direct network and for the associations organising these simulations so that they can expand their areas of influence. One solution can be the creation of new European civic service missions to these institutions, dedicated to the organisation and implementation of simulations. Monica Radu, a member of the Maison de l’Europe in Paris, proposes to increase young people’s interest in European issues. It proposes to reverse the roles: rather than asking young people to become more interested in politics, civil society and politics must take a step towards young people. MEPs must meet young people on the basis of existing associations. It also proposed that European subjects be included more in the curricula of national education and the education of all European citizens in general. Ways must be found to enable European associations and institutions to work together to raise awareness among young people. Benjamin Sibille, founder of the collective for a European Civic Service, proposes to open up European mobility to all young people, regardless of their level of education or socio-economic level. The European Civic Service is a solution that would take into account existing budgetary constraints. For example, it proposed the development of cooperation between EU Member States where national civic services exist in order to allow for the exchange of volunteers between Member States. The only obstacle would be to think about accompanying language learning and transport. Boris Jaros, president of the collective for a European Civic Service, proposes to link the national civic service and the European civic service with the implementation of mixed promotions (50 % of young people from the country where the project takes place and 50 % of young people from another European country). Marie Leveugle, member of the OFAJ, notes that young parties under a European programme have all come back with a positive picture of Europe. Before making any new proposals, she highlighted the need to make greater use of the solutions that already exist in universities, fairs and social networks. She also proposed organising European olympiads. Universities’ sports associations could participate in sports sessions in another European country, which would inspire the enthusiasm of young people. David Radji, a member of the CliMates association, wants environmental issues to be better integrated into education programmes. Young people should be made aware of environmental issues from an early age. While the EU has environmental ideas like the ‘Fit for 55’ package, it did not have the ambition to implement them because the announced EU budgets are too low in relation to the objectives that the institutions have set for themselves. Diane Dussans, a member of the Maison de l’Europe in Paris, recalls that sustainable and responsible consumption was a very important topic for young Europeans. Indeed, many labels exist but they lack transparency: some are based on ecological criteria but not on social criteria. It therefore proposed the creation of a common label at European level in order to gain visibility. Young Europeans are also concerned about the origin of textiles: all products of trafficking in human beings should be banned on the European market.

13 October 2021

16:00

Room of the Committee on European Affairs
Assemblée nationale, 33, rue Saint-Dominique, 75007, Paris

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